Happy Christmas
by RainbowShadow90
Summary: Christmas has left Ginny thinking of how grateful she is to have Hermione in her life after the war broke her apart. Femmeslash/FluffyGoodness Oneshot. Don't like, don't read. Everyone else, enjoy and review! Rated T just to be safe.


**Right, so I know that it's a bit early for Christmas stories, but since I'm not sure of Thanksgiving celebration in the UK, I decided to throw this in ahead of time. It's fluffy goodness with Hermione/Ginny slash, and rather dark moments toward the middle. Anyway, enjoy, and don't forget to review! :)**

The night was dark. All was quiet except for the deep, peaceful breathing of two young women. Owls flew by their bedroom window but nothing could disturb the peaceful slumber these two girls had finally obtained. As the sun slowly rose hours later, the small redhead woman stirred from her slumber and cuddled into the taller brunette's lithe body. The covers were tangled around the two women and neither one bothered to unravel themselves from the messy bed sheets. Ginevra Weasley opened one eye to face Hermione Granger's neck, and she closed her eyes once more, nuzzling her face into the older woman's neck.

Hermione groaned sleepily, and a smile unraveled on Ginny's face. It was not one of sexual desire, but instead one of peace and love. The holidays were rapidly approaching, but Ginny surely had everything she wished for. After seven years of knowing she was attracted to women, she had finally come out to her family. All in all, they took it very well. And after six years of knowing she was attracted to Hermione Granger, she had finally admitted it to Hermione herself. Granted, it had come as a bit of a shock to Hermione, who was experiencing perplexing emotions about Ginny herself, but in time, Hermione had come to accept it.

Ginny was heartbroken after Hermione had declared herself straight. It was during the war that Ginny had found out about her brother and Hermione's relationship. When the war was over and Dumbledore's Army, along with the Order of the Phoenix had gained victory over Lord Voldemort, Ginny had isolated herself to her room in the Burrow, preoccupied with dark thoughts of her brother, Fred's death and the loss of Hermione, whom she had never had in the first place. Slowly but surely, she had begun to live in solitude, only exiting her room to eat or go to the lavatory.

After Ginny had decided she needed to get over her depression, she began to get over Hermione, only to find herself cornered by the older girl in the empty Burrow, abandoned by all family members to go shopping.

"_Hello," Ginny mumbled, swallowing nervously. _

"_I love you," Hermione blurted out boldly._

"_I'm sorry, what?"_

"_I… I love you. I'm in love with you, Ginny Weasley."_

_A silence filled the air, only to be broken by Ginny's shaking voice._

"_I'm sorry, what?" she repeated. _

"_I took a long time to figure it out. I tried to study the theory of homosexuality – the theory of love, even. Nothing explains exactly what I'm feeling. I had to go around asking people what it meant to be in love. It most certainly wasn't what I felt with Ron."_

_Ginny stared up at the older girl, dumbfounded and at a loss for words._

"_You're wondering, always wondering. Don't you see it, Ginny? The way I look at you, and my hands tremble when you're near – my whole body trembles when you're near! And I'm pretty damn sure you can hear my heart pounding when you walk by."_

_Ginny's eyes were blank, emotionless, and Hermione's heart began to sink._

"_You're not in love with me anymore, are you?" Hermione asked weakly._

_Ginny shook her head slowly. "That's not it."_

"_Well, then, what is it?"_

"_You… you're still dating my brother… and just because I'm out of the closet, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are as well."_

_Now it was Hermione's turn to shake her head slowly. _

"_Ginny, your brother and I have been over and done with for quite some time. You would know if you would respond to us, or even listen to us at dinner time."_

"_Hermione, what the bloody hell would you do? The one person you loved, dating _your_ brother. Your family, broken apart by the war. _Your_ brother, dead! Dead and buried six bloody feet under because some bloody Death Eater decided to cause an explosion! Did you expect me to be jolly and free after that?"_

_Ginny's face was slowly turning red and her eyes were burning._

"_You never thought of that, did you?" she continued. "You never once thought that maybe I'd like to join Fred up there! You never once thought that I felt guilty because my brother is dead, because my brother is dead and he's never going to come back! Or that Bill's gone mad because of Greyback! Or that Remus and Tonks are gone as well, and I could have saved them! I could have saved them and I didn't!"_

_Ginny's voice broke on the last word, and now she was sobbing, yet screaming the words that followed._

"_You took too long, Hermione! There's nothing left of me to love! Did you think I was going to wait forever? I'm all rotten inside like the pumpkins in the back that I haven't tended to! I'm all rotten inside and I don't give a damn! You took too long and I don't want anything to do with anything anymore, so don't come telling me that you're in love with me when I can't even love myself!"_

_Ginny had moved to storm back up the stairs and into the safety and solitude of her room, but Hermione knew better. She knew that Ginny would simply cry and cry until her throat was raw from screaming and her knuckles raw from beating the walls. Hermione grabbed the smaller girl by the wrist and pulled her close._

"_If you won't let me love you, at least let me be a friend," Hermione whispered._

"_I don't want a friend! I don't want anything! I just want everything to be back the way it used to be before this bloody war ruined my entire life!"_

"_Ginny… let me in."_

_Ginny struggled halfheartedly before collapsing into Hermione's arms, sobbing. Everything hurt, her head, her heart. It hurt so bad, and she didn't think anything could have ever taken that pain away._

"_That's it, love, it will be okay. I'm right here. I'm right here," Hermione whispered, slumping to the floor against the wall, holding Ginny tightly in her arms._

_Ginny wailed like a child who had scraped a knee for the first time. She cried for hours and hours, and didn't even notice that her family had returned from Diagon Alley. She didn't notice when Harry asked what the bloody hell happened, or when Ron asked why both girls were crying. All she felt was pain. The sorrow she had tried to suppress for so long had been unleashed, and there was no way of going back to her zombie-like ways._

_When Ginny had finally slowed her gut-wrenching sobs into sniffles, Hermione had waved Charlie over silently, motioning for him to carry Ginny upstairs into her bedroom. Hermione followed behind quickly, and crawled into bed beside Ginny. Without noticing, Ginny had fallen asleep, her fiery red hair plastered to her pale face by her tears._

"_Oh, Ginny," Hermione sighed, voice drenched with sorrow._

_Hermione brushed Ginny's flame-red hair away from her face. She had no idea that Ginny's pain ran so deep, and it killed her deep inside to see the younger girl in such agony. Hermione made up her mind that night, and decided that she would do anything to get Ginny back to the way she used to be. Hermione missed the old Ginny – everyone did, really._

_Ginny didn't sleep for long – she never did anymore – but when she stirred, she opened her eyes slightly. Upon seeing a body in bed next to her, her heart stopped from fear, and started up again slowly when her vision came into focus._

"_Are you awake, then?" Hermione asked gently._

"_Yeah," Ginny whispered hoarsely. _

"_You've put us through quite a scare, Gin… Nobody in your family has ever seen you that way. I certainly haven't."_

"…_I'm sorry, what?"_

_Hermione smiled gently, sadly. "I had to have Charlie bring you up to your room. I'm obviously not strong enough for that. They came back about two hours after you started to cry."_

"_Oh, no," Ginny groaned, "Mum must be going mad."_

"_She's just concerned, Ginny. We all are. If I'd have known that you'd react that way after I tell you how I feel, I'd never have said a thing."_

_The previous conversation, if you could call it that, came flooding back to Ginny's mind. The words were sharp in her head, and every word resonated strongly._

I could have saved them, and I didn't,_ Ginny thought. A lump formed in her throat and she turned her face away, ashamed, disgusted._

"_Ginny," Hermione whispered, "Please, look at me."_

"_I could have saved them, Hermione, and I didn't."_

"_Ginny, please…"_

_Ginny chanced a look at Hermione, eyes burning with hot tears._

"_It's not your fault, Ginny. It's nobody's fault. It was a war, Ginny, and as much as I hate to face reality, war has its casualties. It's horrible that your brothers were so amazing, and they suffered consequences for no reason. It's terrible that Remus and Tonks are gone now, because we all know they didn't deserve it. But think about it, Ginny. Do you think any of them would want you to live your life like this, not living at all? Do you think any of us want you to live your life this way?"_

"_I can't help it, Hermione," Ginny admitted. "I feel so guilty. I lived and Fred didn't. Remus didn't. Tonks didn't. So many people died, and I'm still breathing. If I could trade my life for Fred's, or Remus's or Tonks, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't, and I hate myself for that. I hate everything about myself."_

"_That's survivor's guilt, Ginny. It's understandable. Nobody will blame you for that. But you've got to realize that this is not the way life was meant to be lived. You know that, Ginny."_

_Ginny looked away for a moment, then locked gazes with Hermione._

"_I'm sorry I had that breakdown in front of you. I usually don't go to that extent, and never in front of people."_

"_It's all right, Ginny," Hermione mumbled awkwardly, feeling compelled to close the space between their lips._

"_Did you mean it, then?"_

"_Mean what?" Hermione asked, confused._

"_That you love me."_

"_I… yes."_

"_How do you know then?"_

"_I… I just do," Hermione mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with the look of scrutiny Ginny was giving her._

"_Prove it, then," Ginny dared in a whisper._

_Hermione blinked blankly, not sure what Ginny meant. But suddenly Ginny's lips had crashed against her own, wanting, needing. Hermione could almost feel Ginny pleading to make her feel better. Hermione felt the pain that Ginny felt, the raw emotion of pain, of the heartbreak that Ginny had gone through alone, and Hermione sought to make that better._

"Ginny? Ginny… Ginny!" Hermione called.

"Huh? What?" Ginny said, pulling out of her stupor.

"What on earth were you thinking about? I must have been calling you for about five minutes now!"

"Sorry, love. I was just thinking about how you saved me."

"Oh, again with that," Hermione said bleakly, waving away the gratitude.

"It's true. If you hadn't talked to me that day, I'd still be walking around as a zombie, not caring about anything."

"Yes, well…" Hermione said, flustered.

"Yes, well…?"

"Nothing, Gin, forget it," Hermione laughed.

"So, I was thinking… Christmas is coming up soon. We ought to go shopping. And I ought to go visit Fred."

"Yes, you ought to go do those things."

"I also ought to tell you how much you mean to me."

Hermione looked up – when had she disentangled Ginny from herself and the bed sheets? – and smiled uncertainly.

"I love you, Hermione Granger. You mean the world to me. I know where I'd be without you and it's not a pleasant place. I'm still healing, yes, but I'm healing with you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know what it's like to feel love – real love – or happiness again. I wouldn't know what it's like to feel alive in a peaceful world. I wouldn't know any of this, and… well, thank you."

Hermione's eyes felt damp, and she leaned back in to kiss Ginny gently.

Ginny's lips tingled as Hermione crawled back against her, and their bodies intertwined for better cuddling. They lay there for hours, not saying a word, a silent understanding of love and gratitude. Finally, after Ginny had fallen asleep again, the taller girl smiled and looked in the dresser, slowly and carefully, so as not to wake Ginny. There, under folders and papers and assorted junk lay a ring. It was engraved with their names, and the date they had officially started their relationship. It was a ring of promise, hope and love, and although Hermione had always said she was afraid of commitment and the unknown, she was ready to commit, and venture into the world with Ginny by her side, forever, if Ginny agreed. Yes, it was going to be a happy Christmas…


End file.
